Episode 080 - DIVR Writer Rae Binstock and Director Zoey Martinson

The Viewfinder Podcast with Chris Hadley

In the high profile world of tech startups, integrity and honesty are as important to the success of everyone who's created the latest hot app or website as it is the products themselves. Yet for three out entrepreneurs and best friends who’ve reaped the rewards of immediate fame and success for themselves and the groundbreaking sex app they’ve created for LGBTQ women, their personal challenges threaten to jeopardize their public reputations as much as they do their happiness in the new short film DIVR.

This week on the Viewfinder Podcast, I’m joined by two of the brilliant filmmakers behind this award-winning drama: writer Rae Binstock and director Zoey Martinson. Adapted by Binstock from her original episodic pilot screenplay, DIVR had its most recent screening at the Hollyshorts Film Festival in Los Angeles, and while the series version of this film is still in development, its next screenings will take place this September at the New York Latino Film Festival and at the Portland Film Festival in October, among others.

The film co-stars Maria Fernanda Diez (who also co-produced DIVR with Binstock) as Sula, who along with business partners Rebecca (played by B. Bastian) and McQueen (played by Bianca Norwood) instantly become rock stars in the business world and in the LGBTQ community as their popular app - named DIVR - thrusts them into a rapidly uncomfortable spotlight; one made even more difficult as behind the scenes, Sula falls in love with a straight male (Eric, played by George Olesky), Rebecca fights a heartbreaking battle with bipolar disorder and McQueen struggles with her sexual identity.

With these complications putting their credibility and that of their business at stake, all three women must choose between being true to themselves at the risk of being revealed as frauds, or keeping up appearances while privately carrying on a costly deception. DIVR is a great film, and I am honored to have Rae and Zoey on the show to talk about it.

Follow Rae Binstock on Twitter and Instagram: @highlyraeted

Follow Zoey Martinson on Twitter and Instagram: @ZoeyMartinson

Rae's web site: https://www.raebinstock.com/

Zoey's web site: https://www.zoeymartinson.com

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Music by Audionautix.com